A forensics expert attends the scene of the siege in Kirkheaton, where police shot a gunman dead after he wounded an officer. Photograph: Nigel Roddis/Reuters

A police officer shot by a gunman in an incident which sparked a seven-hour siege was saved from serious injury by his body armour, his chief constable said today.

The 29-year-old, who has not been named, was shot after he arrived to arrest Alistair Bell at his home in Kirkheaton, near Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, on Monday night. After a night-long standoff, during which Bell fired repeatedly at officers, he was fatally wounded by a police marksman.

Today, in an interview with the Yorkshire Post, West Yorkshire's chief constable, Sir Norman Bettison, said Bell had a "history of violence" and his officers had gone to detain him over allegations of threats made to a family in the village.

Bettison said: "Immediately on answering the door and discovering officers wanted to carry the investigation of the threats further, this man produced a handgun, threatened the officers with it and told them to leave his premises, which they sensibly did.

"As they were retreating from the property, he opened fire."

He added: "The round lodged in the body armour and did not penetrate the final layer, so the officer has severe bruising to the kidney area of his torso and abrasions which were caused by the ricochet of the armour.

"If he hadn't been wearing body armour, it would have undoubtedly caused serious injury in an area where there are a great number of vital organs."

The paper said Bettison made the comments during a pre-arranged interview yesterday on another matter.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission is now investigating what happened during the siege in Cockley Hill Lane, Kirkheaton – a quiet village about three miles from Huddersfield town centre.

Neighbours described how large numbers of police arrived in the area after 10am on Monday along with a helicopter.

Locals were told to stay indoors as shots were fired throughout the night.

The incident ended at about 5.30am yesterday when a series of shots rang out and an ambulance took Bell away.

He was pronounced dead later.

Bettison said it was unarmed officers who first approached the house, as was normal procedure.

People living in Kirkheaton said Bell was a loner who was "well known to the police". They said he was a drug user with a lengthy prison record.

Bell lived alone in the end-of-terrace house with his pitbull-type dog.